


Standardised Testing??

by TheDoctorIsIcecube



Category: Class (TV 2016)
Genre: Comfort, M/M, Matteusz is a good boyfriend, School, Stress
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-11
Updated: 2016-12-11
Packaged: 2018-09-07 21:39:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8817157
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/TheDoctorIsIcecube
Summary: Charlie does not understand the human method of teaching.





	

Charlie rarely became overly flustered about things, with perhaps the exception of a few things involving aliens. One thing he certainly hadn't expected to end up so worked up over was his schoolwork.

At home he'd always been ahead in his studies. He loved reading and he loved research and writing. He'd imagined that studying on Earth would be much the same as it had been at home, but it was woefully different. His teachers didn't seen to understand the concept of learning at all, preferring instead to list off a few facts followed by two weeks of lessons on how to write an answer to an exam question.

He hated it. He loathed it, in fact, and he would have been tempted to write a full essay of complaint as to why it was a broken system, but he had to spend his time on struggling through this 'exam technique' thing.

The essays themselves weren't so bad, it was simply the fact that they never had enough time. Charlie could write for hours about how poetry made him feel, or about the themes in novels, but no, he was given three quarters of an hour. And it was stressful. He did, however, love writing essays at the flat, because he could sit with Matteusz next to him and read while Matteusz did the same. It was peaceful and comforting and he really liked that, but he hated actually being at school. He'd find himself coming home frustrated, flinging his bag to the far corner of his room and slumping dejectedly down into bed after having barely gotten started on what could have been a wonderful essay before being made to stop.

Every day he came home upset and frustrated and every day he came home wondering why he'd ever agreed to go to a human school. Every single day made him want to stop A-Levels forever. He hated it so much.

Matteusz, of course, was endlessly sweet about the whole thing. He didn't let Charlie mope for hours. He'd find some distraction, and he'd comfort Charlie when he got yet another bad grade.

"How was your day?" He asked. Matteusz got back before him on Tuesdays, so he'd already been home for an hour. "Mine was awful, but it always is."

"It was okay." Matteusz stood up, coming over to hug him tightly. "Why was yours so bad? More essays?"

"Miss Rennet asked me to do some extra timed essay practise," he said with a sigh. "She says she wants me to use my Friday free to do one every week."

"Oh..." Matteusz gently pulled him back towards the bed, settling them both so that Charlie's head rested on his chest. "Why is it that you struggle so much?"

"I don't know," he said, trying not to show Matteusz just how much that frustrated him. He was meant to be smart, smarter than all of these people, but he wasn't. "I really don't know."

"I could help you, if you would like. Am not the best at writing essays, but I have fairly good grades. Is better than nothing."

"I'm failing every timed essay," Charlie said. It was a little bit of an exaggeration, he did get a C last week, but he really did need the help. "I could do with advice but I don't know if it will work."

"It is okay. I will try and help you," Matteusz promised. "We will do this together, Charlie. Like everything else."

"I don't think you understand," he said. Matteusz probably didn't realise just how strange this was to him. Working together couldn't change the way he thought. He didn't even know if Rhodians could adjust thinking patterns to work under pressure as intense as that.

"Help me to?" Matteusz gave him a hopeful smile, one that Charlie just couldn't say no to.

"Of course," he said, and though he knew it probably wouldn't ever be okay with these high stress timed conditions, Matteusz could make him feel better any day.


End file.
